FEATURED SPONSORS

Trump Casinos' Chapter 11 Redux

Posted by Brian Baxter

Correction / Clarification Aug. 6, 10:00 a.m.: Willkie Farr & Gallagher and Kasowitz Benson are representing Donald Trump and his daughter, Ivanka, in the proposed reacquisition of Trump Entertainment. Weil Gotshal is serving as counsel to the debtor. The names of the lawyers working on the matter from Willkie and Kasowitz are detailed below. We regret the omission and the error.

Like a gambler on a losing streak, Trump Entertainment
Resorts is no stranger in bankruptcy court--the company entered Chapter 11
for a third time this past February.

Trump, who resigned from TER's board shortly before the
company filed for bankruptcy almost six months ago, announced on Tuesday that
he would partner with an affiliate of Beal Bank Nevada to reacquire TER for
$100 million out of bankruptcy court.

The casino operator owns the Trump Taj Mahal, Trump
Plaza, and Trump Marina casinos, all of which Trump has vowed to make
"great again" and restore to their glory days in the eighties.
Helping Trump in that effort is Willkie, which is serving as lead corporate counsel. Corporate partner A. Mark Getachew and restructuring partner Rachel Strickland are assisting Cerabino on the proposed reacquisition. The firm has handled various acquisitions and restructuring assignments for Trump-related entities over the last two decades.

Another firm with longstanding Trump connections, Weil, Gotshal & Manges, is serving as debtors' counsel to TER. Restructuring cochair Ted Waksman ($925), restructuring partner Michael Walsh
($950), and tax partner Mark Hoenig ($900) are leading a team from the firm in the Chapter 11 case.

The firm faced down a challenge by a U.S. trustee over its retention by TER in May. The trustee claimed Weil had a conflict
stemming from one of TER's previous stints in Chapter 11. Weil resolved its
issues with the trustee, thanks in part to an array of other law firms that
have lined up to handle any conflicts that arise.

Among them is McCarter & English bankruptcy partner
Charles Stanziale, Jr. ($525), who has a long history of serving as debtors'
counsel to several Trump-related entities. Stanziale and fellow McCarter
partners Lisa Bonsall ($495), Joseph Lubertazzi, Jr. ($495), and Jeffrey Testa
($390) are serving as TER's cobankruptcy counsel. Blank Rome and New Jersey
firm Sills Cummis & Gross have also sought Chapter 11 roles for TER as
special litigation, tax, and patent counsel.

Since March 1, court records show that Weil has billed
Trump Casinos for more than $1.5 million in fees and expenses. The firm was
paid another $1 million retainer prepetition. McCarter's current tab stands at
$626,773.

All those lawyers could come in handy if Trump wants to
prevail in a planned challenge to his purchase of TER by a bondholder group
represented by Stroock financial restructuring cochair Kristopher Hansen and
Lowenstein Sandler bankruptcy chair Kenneth Rosen, who is serving as local
counsel.

The ad hoc group of senior secured noteholders objects to
several elements of the proposed acquisition, which must be approved by a U.S.
bankruptcy court in Camden, N.J. Hansen told Bloomberg in a statement that the
"plan proposed by Beal Bank and Donald Trump is not capable of confirmation
for many reasons."

The bondholder group isn't the only one to recently have
a bone to pick with The Donald over his casino properties. Last week a company
that once intended to buy the Trump Marina property from TER for $360 million,
sued Trump in bankruptcy court claiming that the reality TV star/billionaire
had failed to maintain the property.

Vincent Papalia, a bankruptcy litigator with Newark's
Saiber, is representing Coastal Marina, a company formed by a one-time Trump
protégé, in the suit. Weil real estate cochair J. Philip Rosen represented
Trump on the initial deal in May 2008.